Southern Mexico, throughout Central America and the West Indies to northern Brazil, Bolivia, and Peru. The tree\'s best development is on ridges or slopes and high riverbanks.

Color Range:

Heartwood is salmon red to orange brown when fresh, becoming russet to reddish brown when seasoned; often marked with dark streaks. Sapwood is usually wide; white, gray, or pinkish. Texture is medium to rather coarse; grain mostly interlocked; golden luster; without distinctive odor or taste.

Color Change:

Dramatic. Darkens quickly

Hardness:

Brazilian Cherry has a Janka hardness rating of 2820 compared to 1260 for Red Oak.

Stability:

fair

Working Properties: The wood is moderately difficult to saw and machine largely because of its high density, but except in planing it can be machined to a smooth surface.The wood is somewhat difficult to plane because of the interlocked grain. It is easy to glue and finish satisfactorily; steam-bending properties comparable to white oak.

Durability: Laboratory evaluations rate the wood very resistant to brown-rot and white-rot fungi; actual field exposure trials also rate the wood as very durable. Heartwood is also rated very resistant to dry-wood termites; little resistance to marine borers.

Preservation: Heartwood is not treatable using open-tank or pressure-vacuum systems. Sapwood, however, is responsive.

Uses: Tool handles and other applications where good shock resistance is needed, steam-bent parts, flooring, turnery, furniture and cabinet work, railroad crossties tree-nails, gear cogs, wheel rims, and other specialty items.Tree exudes a rosin-like gum known commercially as South American copal.Seed pods contain an edible pulp

B. Unfinished and factory-finished solid plank should be installed perpendicular to the joists or on a diagonal for any single layer subfloor. (Exception: Over diagonal, solid subfloor boards, install perpendicular to joists or subfloor direction.)

C. When ¾" solid plank flooring is laid parallel with the floor joists, follow one of these two steps:

2. Or brace between truss/joists in accordance with the truss/joist manufacturer’s recommendations and with local building codes. Some truss/joist systems cannot be cross-braced and still maintain stability.

D. Before installing wood flooring, place an approved vapor retarder. Some examples of acceptable vapor retarders over wood subfloors include:

1. Choose a starting wall according to the most aesthetically or architecturally important elements in the room, taking into consideration fireplaces, doors, cabinets and transitions, as well as the squareness of the room. The starting wall will often be the longest unbroken wall in the room.

2. Snap a working line parallel to the starting wall, allowing ¾” expansion space between the starting wall and the edge of the first strip or plank run.

3. As a general rule, a ¾” expansion space must be left around the perimeter and at all vertical obstructions.

4. Random-width plank is laid out with alternating courses varying by widths. Start with the widest board, then the next width, etc., and repeat the pattern.

5. Lay one row of strip or plank along the entire length of the working line.

6. Top-nail and blind-nail the first row (hand-nail if necessary), using appropriate fasteners. Denser species may require pre-drilling. Each succeeding row should be blind-nailed with the nailing machine wherever possible. At the finishing wall and other obstructions, it may be necessary to blind-nail by hand until top nailing is required.

7. Racking rule of thumb: Stagger end-joints in adjacent rows at least three times the width of the boards, as product allows. Avoid H-joints. (See Figures 1 and 2.)

Figure 1 Stagger End Joints

Figure 2 Avoid “H” Joints

8. To minimize expansion on floors wider than 20 feet, more or less spacing between rows may be needed, depending on geographical area, interior climate control and time of the year.

9. Where spacing is required: Use a washer or removable spacer to leave additional space

every few rows and/or start in center of room and work out to both sides. Do not use

spacers that may cause damage on factory-finished products.

10. Nailing: Blind-nail through the tongue using 1½"-2” fasteners. Use 1½" fasteners with

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